INDIANAPOLIS – IMPD is asking for help looking for the person who carjacked a rideshare driver at gunpoint Thursday morning on Indy’s near east side.

IMPD says the thief stole the rideshare vehicle around 5 a.m. Thursday near North Street and N. Parker Avenue.  

Despite the thief having a gun, no one was hurt and no one has been arrested.

“I think it’s really crazy,” said Pinny Kantacheerawat, who lives in the area where the carjacking took place. “It was just right in front of my house. There’s been a lot going on in Indy since I moved here.”

The situation has some who use rideshare services on edge too.

“I try and check out the driver, how many rides they’ve got, their rating and stuff like that,” said Indy resident Sam Clark. “Just like try and do it in a public area and get it in a public area. There’s really only so much you can do.”

This isn’t the first time this year a rideshare driver has been targeted.

Back in March, three armed carjackers wearing masks stabbed a ride share driver and stole his car near 10th Street and N. Whitcomb Avenue. 

In June, an Uber driver was carjacked at gunpoint near 35Th And Caroline Avenue.

IMPD says even though incidents like this are rare, it’s important for both drivers and riders to protect themselves. Especially with the holiday travel season coming up.

“If you’re riding in a ride share, we encourage you to match the plate with the vehicle with the vehicle that’s in your app, make sure the driver is the same and also if possible, look to see how many rides that driver has had,” said Lt. Shane Foley with IMPD. “We always remind the drivers to make sure they know who is in their vehicle, and that they match up the name with the person who is actually ordering the rideshare and that they know where they are so that way if something happens and they need to contact the police they have that information readily available. And have a device, whether it be some type of tracking device inside the car, so if it gets stolen that we can easily track that down.”

Uber and Lyft both have multiple tips for drivers and riders on their websites.

Some of the tips include having the driver confirm your name, making sure to ride in the back seat – this allows you to quickly get out on either side of the vehicle, and sharing your trip details with friends and family.

Meanwhile, people we talked to just hope incidents like this don’t continue to happen.

“I hope there’s a systemic change to cut down on a lot of these issues that have been happening, including this,” said Clark.